Ash and Maple Coffee Table

The Emerald Ash Borer is coming to my area, so I expect I’ll be making a lot of stuff out of ash in the next couple of years. On this coffee table, the top and frame are ash. The legs are maple because I had some maple the right size left over from my stereo stand.

I jointed and planed the two board that make up the top and joined them with biscuits. I wanted the legs to be at a little bit of an angle, so the end pieces for the frame are three degrees off from straight. I made consistent angles with a miter gauge on the table saw and drilled the holes to mount the frame with a Kreg pocket hole jig.

I didn’t cut the top boards to be the same length before joining them, since that would be one more thing to line up perfectly. Cutting the ends of the top worked fine, except I forgot to measure for where I’d put the biscuits and cut into one of them. In the last picture, you can see one of the biscuits from the end. I thought about just shortening the top, but the #20 biscuits are pretty big, and I was happy with the dimensions. I decided not to try to cover it up, since whatever I did would probably be more noticeable than what I’ve got now.

I don’t have a lathe, so the legs are basic. I rounded the edges with a router, angled the tops to match the angle of the frame, and used the drill bit from the pocket hole kit to make the screw holes to attach them to the frame.

I finished it with Tried & True Danish Oil and lacquered it since I know people will set drinks on it.

I’m really happy with how the oil shows off the grain on the top. The legs are okay, but I really want to go over to my friend’s shop and learn how to use her lathe so I can do better next time. I’m looking forward to working more with ash, though I’m sad we’re losing most of the ash trees in town.